


Late Night Reading

by englisharpen



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Arc Reactor, Attempt at Humor, Avengers Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Needs JARVIS, Fluff and Angst, Humor, I Fail At Being Funny, M/M, Nightmares, No Thor, Not Beta Read, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Slash, Sharing a Bed, Short & Sweet, Sleeping Together, Stairs are evil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:37:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4499109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/englisharpen/pseuds/englisharpen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve loves reading at night, but JARVIS is down for maintenance and he won't be on for a few days. That means there won't be a lot of things working for a few days, including lights and lamps that aren't manually turned on. Fortunately, he has a friend upstairs with a built-in flashlight. And if they have to share a bed, so be it.</p><p>Could also be called: <em>Why the Avengers Need JARVIS</em>, or <em>Steve Is Tall, Stairs are Scary</em>.<br/>(Seriously I was going for a one-shot but my fingers kept typing sorrz)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Stairway

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, first of all- this fic really is all fluff, but there are some darker elements. (Nightmares, PTSD, Flashbacks, etc.)  
> Secondly, this is technically slash but there isn't any sex or kissing or anything, and they aren't really in a relationship, so if you aren't a fan of Stony slash, you can read it as friendship.
> 
> [!]  
> Also, for all my Traditional English speakers! (The 'British' version.) A Flashlight is a torch, if you didn't know.  
> For all my Simplified English speakers! (The 'American' version.) I will be using the word Flashlight, but if I accidentally put in the word 'torch', it's not a flaming stick, it's a flashlight.  
> [!]
> 
> Hopefully you guys enjoy this fic, I've had to rewrite it at least seven times because my laptop kept crashing and giving me a blue screen. So the notes got shorter and the tags got shorter. Unfortunately, the story kept getting longer so now there will be more than one chapter. Yay.
> 
> Anyway, kudos if you like. c:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first of all- this fic really is all fluff, but there are some darker elements. (Nightmares, PTSD, Flashbacks, etc.)  
> Secondly, this is technically slash but there isn't any sex or kissing or anything, and they aren't really in a relationship, so if you aren't a fan of Stony slash, you can read it as friendship.
> 
> [!]  
> Also, for all my Traditional English speakers! (The 'British' version.) A Flashlight is a torch, if you didn't know.  
> For all my Simplified English speakers! (The 'American' version.) I will be using the word Flashlight, but if I accidentally put in the word 'torch', it's not a flaming stick, it's a flashlight.  
> [!]
> 
> Hopefully you guys enjoy this fic, I've had to rewrite it at least seven times because my laptop kept crashing and giving me a blue screen. So the notes got shorter and the tags got shorter. Unfortunately, the story kept getting longer so now there will be more than one chapter. Yay.
> 
> Anyway, kudos if you like. c:

The team stared at Tony, all their jaws' dropped.

"What do you mean, JARIVS is broken?!" Clint said in disbelief. 

Tony huffed. "JARVIS isn't _broken_. He just needs some updates and repairs, nothing too big... except, you know, I wouldn't have to if _someone_ didn't manipulate override codes." Everyone looked at Clint, who gave a squawk of protest. 

Ignoring Clint, Tony continued. "Anyway, JARVIS needs the repairs, and they're going to take a while. Just so everyone knows, these next few days are going to be hell. Mostly for me, but JARVIS won't be there for you guys either. That means no entrance to the private rooms, no turning lights on unless they can manually be turned on, no access to the alcohol cabinet, no access to the pool, quinjets, file room, most electronics, probably a lot of other things, and... the worst of all, my workshop and the labs." 

Natasha smirked. "Wow, now Tony might actually eat and sleep some." Clint started snickering, finally muttering out, "And no alcohol either? Wow, Tony isn't going to last long." He shut up when Tony glared at him, threateningly holding up a wrench. 

"I also have this little box that tells me what percent JARVIS is done loading. Once it's 100% complete, everything will start working again." Tony held up a little electronic box. Natasha raised her eyebrow at the similarities of that box and the small box-like thing he had when he was dying of the Palladium. Steve frowned. "But isn't that electronic? So how does it work?" The box gave a quiet _beep_ and the percent raised to 2%. Tony smirked. "It works because I didn't put JARVIS into the box, I'm using the box to upgrade JARVIS." Steve still looked confused, so Natasha nugged him and shook her head. "Don't ask anything else, he'll never shut up otherwise." She whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. Tony scowled at her. 

Bruce was obviously upset with the restrictions to the labs, but he shrugged. "It's just a few days. We could use a break from our regular routine." Steve nodded. "Bruce is right. We should use this time to train one on one. Anyone want to spar?" He laughed as everyone stood up. "Alright... looks like we all are going."

They walked towards the lift, already feeling less bored. Clint and Tony fought to touch the button first, but Natasha stuck out a leg and swept out their feet from under them, pushing the button while they lay in a heap by her feet. She grabbed Clint by the collar and hauled him up. "Ever heard of 'Ladies first'?" She asked sweetly, all while Tony and Clint backed up a few feet. 

Steve was watching the entire thing, amused, but realised the button wasn't lighting up. "Hey, I don't think you pressed hard enough." He walked over and pushed, a bit harder, but no lights illuminated the button. Bruce rolled his eyes as the team took turns punching the button.

"Guys? JARVIS always ran the lifts...?" 

Tony facepalmed. "Crap! Now how do we get downstairs?"

Natasha sighed. "You did actually put _stairs_ in the tower, right?" Steve and Bruce quickly looked to Tony, who looked confused. "I don't know! Why would I care about something like that?"

Steve's eyes widened. "You... you forgot... you forgot to put _stairs_ in your eighty floor tower?!" Tony shrugged. "It's actually over a hundred floors. But hey, I don't know if I put stairs in. That seems like something Pepper would put in without me knowing." 

Clint, now sitting on top of a pedestal, finally spoke up. "Call Pepper!"

Tony blinked. "Phone. JARVIS is on my phone." Steve threw his hands in the air. "Seriously? Just use my phone, here." He handed his phone to Tony, who stared at it in horror. "What is this?" 

"It's a phone, Tony."

"It's... it's ancient! Is this your phone from before-the-ice?" 

Steve did not look amused, so Tony raised his hands in defence. "Alright! Okay! I'll call Pepper." Steve thought for a moment, then reached out for his phone. "Tony, I forgot, I put a password on my phone and a fingerprint scanner so--" Steve stopped as Tony worked his magic and got into the phone, two seconds, flat. 

"..."

Bruce laughed, trying to keep a straight face. "It doesn't matter what type of security your phone has, Tony can hack into anything." Tony kept typing things, clicking, and making Steve legitimately worry about the safety of his phone. Giving a shrug, Tony couldn't help but adding, "I broke the firewall to the pentagon in high-school as a dare. I can hack into an old man's phone, thank you very much."

Finally he typed a number in and started calling pepper. Steve sighed. _Then what was he doing to my phone before he started calling Miss Potts?_

Tony put it on speaker. 

_"Steve?"_ Pepper's voice rang out into the hallway. "Steve?!" Tony replied, looking scandalized. 

_"Who is this?"_

"Why did you call him 'Steve'?! Are you calling all my acquaintances by their first names now?!"

_"Tony, is that you?!"_

"Wait, nevermind, we have more important things to talk about than your sex life with Steve!" Steve turned a bright shade of red and hurriedly started blubbering excuses, making Natasha give him a little pat on the back.

_"Tony, what is this about? What did you do now?"_

Tony faked a sniffle. "That hurt. That hurt right here." He pointed to his heart. There was an awkward moment of silence. "In my heart. You can't see what I'm doing."

_"Tony..."_

"Wait, I promise this is important! Uh... JARVIS isn't working and we are stuck on the top floor of the tower because we can't use the lifts!" 

_"What happened to JARIVS?!"_

"...Clint killed him."

Clint opened his mouth to protest, but Natasha elbowed him in the ribs. 

_"Uh huh... well, did the stairway get blocked off?"_

Bruce lit up, grabbing the phone. 

"Stairway? Where is the stairway?" He said, getting desperate.

Pepper sounded confused. _"You don't know where it is? It's by the kitchen, it's the light brown door by the blender--"_

Tony fisted the air. "Woo hoo! Thanks Pep! Call you soon! Also, how is your relationship with the new SI employee goin'? Is it better or worse than our old relationship?" 

A _click_ was heard as Pepper hung up. Tony's jaw fell in rejection. "Ouch." 

Bruce sighed. "It's okay, Tony. Technically she didn't answer so you can just pretend that she said 'worse' even though it is probably 'better'. Come on, the stairs are this way!"

The team followed him to the wall next to the blender, and indeed, there was a large wooden door. With a knob. And hinges. It was a _door_. They all gaped at it, totally confused why they had never seen or heard of it before. 

Tony finally clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's crack this baby open and go to the sparring room!" Clint gave a little 'Hurrah!' of victory. Tony reached out and grasped the dusty doorknob, slowly turning it and swinging the door open. It creaked so noisily that even Steve cringed away from it. They all peered inside the stairwell.

"Oh." Steve said slowly.

Natasha bit her lip. "So _that's_ why nobody uses the stairs."

The stairway was dark. It was nearly pitch-black, and it went in circles down. The ceiling was a foot shorter than most of them, and there was dust and cobwebs covering everything. The banister was crumbled and jaggedly broken in some parts. The stairs themselves were wooden and looked hollow-- the entire thing was a sketchy ghetto mess. 

Clint gulped. "Well, I was just kidding when I said I wanted to spar. Really."

-=-

The fellowship of the stairs huddled together, slowly walking towards the first stair. 

Natasha wrapped one arm around Clint's, the other around Bruce's. Steve, being the tallest, ducked down over Natasha, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder, who was practically hugging Bruce around the neck. Clint was clutching Natasha's arm like a lifeline, and Bruce had the other arm around Tony's hands, making sure he wasn't choking him.

In the bundle they slowly walked to the first stair and Natasha carefully placed down one foot, before putting all her weight on it. The wood made an awful creaking noise, but she was fine. The group let out a breath none of them knew they had sucked in.

Tony snorted. "Yay. Only five million billion zillion to go."

The huddled team slowly advanced down the stairs, taking at least five minutes on the first four steps. Natasha seemed to be relaxing, as well as Clint. Bruce chuckled at Steve and Tony, who both seemed wary of the deep scary abyss. 

They were probably near the 90th floor, and the sparring gym room was on the 47th. It was very dark, and very hard to breathe with what seemed like sawdust floating. It was almost foggy.

Soon Natasha was shrugging off Clint and the rest of the team. She ignored the protests and quickly walking down the spirally staircase, leaving the rest of them in the dark. Clint let off a _totally_ unmanly squeal and hurried down the stairs after her. 

Tony glanced down at his arc reactor. He thought it would've been somewhat helpful, but it was so dusty in the spiral stairway that it just looked like a faint, barely noticeable blue glow. It hardly lit up anything.

"Hey Tony? Why isn't your arc reactor lighting everything up? It's still practically pitch black in here."

Tony frowned at Steve's words. "I don't know. I'd say it was the horrible air in here, with all this fog and dust. Anyway, JARVIS is usually powering it and it's running on reserves right now. It'll be fine, but the reserves aren't all that powerful. It's gotta be at least five times dimmer."

Steve sighed. "Well, in that case, we will have to trek down the-"

_Bonk!_

Tony and Bruce burst into helpless laughter, both knowing that Steve had hit his head on the low ceiling. Steve rubbed his head. "Ouch." 

Bruce was nearly crying. "Right when you were about to say some brave heroic line." 

The laughter continued as the threesome **(A/N: oh god pls nu not like that)** walked down, step after step. The laughter over Steve's injuries made the scary stairwell a bit more bearable. 

Suddenly Tony lit up. "That's it! We can slide down the railing!" 

Bruce and Steve exchanged a look. (Well... technically Steve looked at the side of Bruce's face and Bruce looked at the wall, but neither of them could see so it didn't matter much.) Tony quickly felt around for the railing, managing to poke Bruce in the ear and accidentally slap Steve in the nose. Finally he felt the wooden beam. "Ah HA!" He cried out, sitting his ass down and sliding a few feet. 

What he completely forgot about was how one, the railing was broken in some places, and two, he couldn't tell where the railing was broken.

Bruce and Steve continued walking down, not wanting to risk their own butts on the totally sketchy idea of a railing. There was a delighted cry of triumph from in front of them, and then there was a loud crack, a loud squeal, and the sound of someone whining. Tony.

"Don't slide down! It's broken and where it's broken it's really pointy!" Tony called from below. Steve raised his eyebrows. "That's gotta hurt." He said to Bruce, who was shaking his head like he couldn't believe this was the team that people expected to save the world.

-=-

Four hours later, and Steve found himself still walking down the stairs, by himself, letting his fingers trail along the side of the wall. Every so often it hit a large metal spot, which he assumed was a door to the level below. After counting fifty or so, he saw a faint light from the curve of the stairwell. 

He grinned and ran down to see a door open, and light flooding into the horrible, horrible stairway. 

He ran in the door, and looked up to see that yes, he was on floor 47. Sighing in relief, he collapsed onto the nearest workbench. 

Natasha and Clint, who had gotten to the floor an hour earlier, glanced at the super solider who was flopped against the training bench. "Nice job, Cap! You made it here before Tony, so that's something!" Steve looked up at the two assassins and grinned. 

"Bruce here yet?" Natasha pointed at the sparring room. "He's in there."

Clint glanced out the door that lead to the stairway. Looking out the door and into the curved well of death and hopelessness, Clint suddenly had a great idea. "What if we close the door and let Tony wander down the cold stairwell?"

Natasha looked unamused. "Clint, I was trained as an assassin, not a torturer."

There was a loud shriek of joy from the stairs and then Tony came barreling through, looking crazed. "I did it! We made it!" He screamed, collapsing onto the gym floor. "We survived the stairs!"

The reactor was glowing a bit brighter, so Steve guessed it was all that foggy dust stuff making it dim. 

Bruce's laughter was heard from the sparring room. "You guys realise we'll have to climb back up to get to our rooms, right?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MUSIC: No Light No Light. Totally amazing song.
> 
> Anyone ever heard of the song Titanium?  
> Admit it, every time you hear it you try to sing the high note. Your voice always cracks and/or fails and you totally end up missing the note. But you still try to hit it. Every time.
> 
> Also... I know so far this doesn't seem like Tony/Steve but in the next few chapters it will be.
> 
> If this made you laugh please comment/kudos. I need to know if I should try or if this is so pathetic that it's embarrassing and I need to stop it now.


	2. Really Bad First Aid Kits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve forgets his own strength and Clint somehow wound up on the receiving end.  
> Luckily, Tony has first-aid kits on each floor, appropriately stocked with whatever needed in a crisis!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear god.  
> So many awesome support on this fic!
> 
> I am SO SO SO worried this is going to be a really bad chapter and everyone is awkwardly going to go find a new fic because I ruined it. XD  
> Man, my self confidence needs help.
> 
> Anyway, hope you like. c:

Tony _really_ never asked to spar head-to-head with a Russian assassin-spy woman.

But then, when had he asked to get kidnapped by terrorists, tortured, have Howard Stark as a father, have his godfather try and kill him, or fly a nuke up a wormhole to another world?

Well... all those things sounded like a cup of tea compared to fighting with Natasha-fucking-Romanov.

"Focus, Stark!" Natasha ordered. Tony snorted.

"It's a little hard when I am _turning into a living pretzel!_ " He snapped, seriously wondering how his leg was that far above his head. Natasha was hovering over him, pushing his arms even further back until Tony was seeing spots.

"I thought we were sparring! This isn't sparring! This is _Twister_!" Tony shouted.

Clint was dying of laughter from the sidelines, watching Tony get twisted into a pulp by the petite girl. Tony glared at him. "Oh, shut it, birdbrain! I think you're forgetting that you are sparring with Steve!"

Clint managed to stop laughing.

Natasha was pining Tony down, his body twisted into knots. "You ready to give up?" She asked, amused. Tony gasped for air.

"That was an option?" He asked incredulously. Natasha smirked and untangled her limbs from his. Tony flopped down on the mats, out of breath, and let Bruce drag him towards the couch. 

Steve chuckled, then walked onto the mat. "Come on, Clint. Our turn. You ready?"

Clint was looking a bit pale. "Uh... I give up?"

Steve let out a laugh and pushed Clint onto the mat, and raised his fists.  
Clint glanced at Natasha. "Little help, Nat?"

The assassin smiled. "I suggested you and Tony spar while I fought with Steve, and if I remember correctly, you told me you could handle an old man." Clint sheepishly smiled at Steve's hard look. 

"Okay... okay... I got this." Clint decided, raising his hands. Steve snorted. "'Old man'? I'll get you for that." 

Clint let out a _squeak_ , he forgot to block, and Steve's fist collided with his temple. He collapsed onto the mat, limp. 

Steve gaped and looked at his fist.

Bruce and Natasha ran over to Clint's body and took his pulse. Giving a snort of annoyance, Bruce sighed. "He's out cold, not dead. Way to go, Rogers." Steve ducked his head, but Tony clapped him on the back.

"Nice goin', Capsicle!"

Natasha slapped the mechanic. Hard. 

"Owww! What the hell was that for! Fuck!" Tony clutched his cheek, stumbling back. Natasha glared at him. "My best friend might have a concussion! _Go get a first aid kit!_ " She hissed, shoving Tony away. 

Suddenly Clint let out a low moan and everyone started freaking out and running like headless chickens. 

"I didn't mean to! I really didn't I'm sorry Barton!" Steve rambled, looking around frantically for something that could help. Natasha ran to get the cooler full of ice. Tony opened a closet and found the first aid kit.

First Aid Kit?

He wasn't sure it could be called that.

It was more like... a paper bag with a red sharpie drawn '+' on the side. 

Tony frowned and looked inside. _One band-aid, apple core, and duct-tape._

Wow.

Tony grabbed the 'kit' nonetheless and ran back to where Barton lie on the floor, moaning. Natasha was dragging over the cooler full of ice-water over to him. Steve had found a portable torch and was flashing it around, and trying to shine it into Clint's eyes for god knows what reason.

Bruce had taken a step back, laughing so hard his chest hurt.

"Maybe he needs water!" Natasha suggested, and, before anyone could say anything, she overturned the cooler of ice-water onto her friend, dumping the entire thing onto his face.

Tony's jaw dropped. "That's not what you do! We need to wrap his head or something! I found the first aid kit, we've got the remains of an apple, a band-aid, and duct tape! I made a reactor out of bomb parts, I can make a headwrap out of this!" He declared, sitting down and starting to work.

He ended up sticking the band-aid on Clint's nose for some reason, then wrapping his forehead in silver tape.

"Done!"

And now, Clint was sopping wet, freezing, aching, sticky, confused, and Steve was _still_ shining the portable torch in his eyes. 

Seriously, Bruce was dying.

-=-

Clint blearily woke up five minutes later.

He looked around him.

_Roll of duct-tape. Band-aid wrapper. Apple core. Crumpled brown bag. Puddle of freezing water. Empty overturned cooler. Discarded portable torch._

"Uh... what... the fuck?" Clint touched his forehead. "Tape? Oh, this is gonna be a bitch to peel off... god, it's in my hair! Tony!" 

Where was everyone?

Clint turned around and saw Bruce calmly sorting through medicine. "Bruce? What happened? I was sparring with Steve... where is everyone?"

Bruce turned to Clint and smiled apologetically. "Oh, hey. I locked them all up in the closet over there so they couldn't do any more damage to you then they already have. You'll thank me later."

Clint rubbed his nose. _Band-aid? What the hell...?_  
"What happened?"

"Well, Steve accidentally punched you a bit too hard, you blacked out, and they all panicked. Natasha poured ice water on your face, nearly choking you. Steve was shining a light into your eyes, and he could've damaged them. Tony wrapped duct-tape so tightly over your head I thought you'd pass out from not getting enough circulation."

The archer stood up. "Oh. Yeah. Great team we have, yeah?"

Bruce laughed. "Yep. Oh! I suppose you can let the team out of the closet now."

Clint walked over to the door and picked up the key on the shelf before swinging it open. Steve and Natasha sighed in relief and walked out, glad to be out of the tight space. Tony crawled out. 

"Hey, guys... no more sparring... okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this chapter is a shorter one.
> 
> I think soon we'll get into the STONY. <3
> 
> Lemme know what you think of it so far. And kudos. Pleaaasssseeeee. *Whine*


End file.
